Combined slitting and overlaying feed apparatus for roll former machines and the like

ABSTRACT

A slitter attachment for roll former machines, which slits metal in a position forwardly of the feed table of the roll former machine and conveys it through the feed channels of the table to different laterally spaced portions of the rolls. Hinged by a lateral hinge pin to be raised out of position and lowered into engagement with the gear train of the roll former machine, the powered conveyor of the slitter has a laterally slidable support arm surrounded above and below by a cog belt. At the remote end of the arm are slitter rolls driven by the cog belt, whose lower run moves over one of the feed channels toward the rolls of the machine. A magnet, positioned just above this part of the cog belt, lifts the slit workpiece against its under surface and conveys it into the rolls of the machine.

United States Patent 1 91 McClain et al. [4 1 Feb. 27, 1973 COMBINED SLITTING AND 2,767,823 10/1956 Beamish ....s3 401 ux OVERLAYING FEED APPARATUS FOR 1,340,137 5 1920 PfiStBl' ..83/408 x ROLL FORMER MACHINES AND THE LIKE Inventors: Lamont R. McClain, Mehlville; Emil L. Slavik, Lemay, both of Mo.

Assignee: Engellndustries,1nc., Ballwin, Mo.

Filed: July 8, 1971 Appl. No.: 160,760

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 11/1960 Renard ..83/407 Remack et al ..83/425 X Primary Examiner-Andrew R. Juhasz Assistant Examiner.lames F. Coan Attorney-Jerome A. Gross 5 7] ABSTRACT A slitter attachment for roll former machines, which slits metal in a position forwardly of the feed table of the roll former machine and conveys it through the feed channels of the table to different laterally spaced portions of the rolls. Hinged by a lateral hinge pin to be raised out of position and lowered into engagement with the gear train of the roll former machine, the powered conveyor of the slitter has a laterally slidable support arm surrounded above and below by a cog belt. At the remote end of the arm are slitter rolls driven by the cog belt, whose lower run moves over one of the feed channels toward the rolls of the machine. A magnet, positioned just above this part of the cog belt, lifts the slit workpiece against its under surface and conveys it into the rolls of the machine.

5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PAIENIED 3.718.022

ShEEI 2 OF 2 m n k L 5 LAMONT l2. MCCLAAN COMBINED SLITTING AND OVERLAYING FEED APPARATUS FOR ROLL FORMER MACHINES AND THE LIKE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to apparatus, attachable to machines which form sheet metal workpieces moving therethrough, which slits sheet metal to a width desired for forming and conveys it to the machine. The invention has particular applicability to slit and feed, to a conventional roll former machine, narrow sheet metal workpieces for manufacture into drive cleats for ductwork section joints and the like.

A combination roll former and slitter apparatus for such use is shown in US. Pat. No. 3,312,095 entitled Combination Sheet Forming Apparatus and Slitter. The apparatus there disclosed includes a conventional roll forming machine having upper and lower rolls which define a mid-plane along which sheet metal is to be fed. A slitter having opposed slitter rolls is positioned at a level higher than the mid-plane of the rolls, and the sheet metal slit by it is fed downwardly in a compound curve to the rolls at the machine inlet. The gearing to the slitter rolls includes an overrunning clutch, and drives the slitter rolls at a peripheral speed somewhat slower than that of the forming rolls of the machine; when these grasp the sheet metal workpiece and pull it at a faster speed, the overrunning clutch permits the slitter rolls to turn at an increased speed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION I The purposes of the present invention include providing slitter overlaying conveyor apparatus which will feed a sheet metal forming machine such as a roll former at its normal plane of feeding, for example, at the mid-plane of its rolls, and will utilize the feed channels with which the feed table of the machine is equipped. Further purposes are to separate the function of slitting the sheet metal from the function of conveying it to and feeding it into the roll forming machine, and to make it unnecessary to use an overrunning clutch. Another purpose is to permit easy lateral positioning, so that strips may be cut and fed alternately into laterally spaced roll parts; thus drive cleats may be formed in one position and S-cleats in another. A still further purpose is to permit easy disengagement, so that the machine may be fed with pre-slit workpieces.

These and other objects which will be apparent from the specification are achieved in the present invention by apparatus whose preferred embodiment is described in greater detail hereinafter.

Summarizing generally, the present combined slitter and overlaying conveyor apparatus is an attachment mounted hingedly on a lateral bolt of a roll forming machine, to support the slitter forwardly of its feed table in the same horizontal plane. In this position its gearing is engaged with the drive train of the roll former machine, The hinged mount permits moving the attached apparatus out of the way, by lifting up and angularly to a non-operating position, at the same time disengaging its gearing.

The new apparatus includes a gear-driven lateral shaft onto which a driving sprocket is keyed for lateral sliding. Arm structure, aligned with the slidable sprocket and slidable with it, bridges over the feed table of the roll former machine. At its remote forward end, the arm structure supports the slitter mechanism. This includes slitter rolls driven from the sprocket by endless flexible drive means such as a cog belt, which surrounds the arm and whose undersurface is drawn forward toward the forming rolls when the slitter is powered. By lateral sliding, the arm is so positioned that the undersurface of its drive belt is immediately above one of the feed channels on the feed table.

When sheet metal is placed against a gage bar and fed to the slitter, its rolls slit off a workpiece of desired width, and propel the slit workpiece forwardly until it is engaged by the belt undersurface. The belt undersurface feeds the workpiece into the rolls of the machine at their mid plane. To hold a ferrous metal workpiece against the belt undersurface, a long bar magnet is positioned immediately thereabove.

The combination and physical arrangement of the component parts of the present apparatus overcomes the problem, experienced in the prior art apparatus, of timing the peripheral speed of slitter rolls. The present slitter rolls are positioned forwardly of the feed table. Since workpieces to be formed into drive cleats are usually short, the workpieces will usually be free of the slitter rolls before being engaged by the forming rolls of the machine; and the magnetic force which holds the workpieces against the belt does not prevent a workpiece from being drawn into the machine by faster moving rolls. However, even long workpieces are drawn from the present slitter rolls into the forming rolls without difficulty, largely because the workpieces remain in the plane of slitting; and no overriding clutch has been found necessary.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view, partly broken away, of combined slitting and overlaying feed apparatus comprising the present invention, shown attached to a conventional roll former machine illustrated in dashed lines. The phantom lines illustrate the new apparatus in an alternate lateral position.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation corresponding substantiall to FIG. 1. The phantom lines show the new apparatus raised to a disengaged position.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a somewhat enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along line 44 of FIG. 1, with the apparatus in the disengaged position shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a somewhat enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT c. A pair of spaced apart parallel side plates d, set into and extending above the frame b, mount upper and lower spindles e, f on which a conventional pair of inlet forming rolls g are secured inwardly together with a gear h, mounted adjacent to one of the plates d driven as part of the gear train of the machine a. Projecting from the frame b forwardly of such inlet end is a feed table j. Onto its upper surface k are mounted a pair of guide channels m, n, spaced laterally from each other. These serve as guide path defining provisions, whereby metal strips are guided into the inlet end of the rolls g. Their lateral locations on the feed table surface k are so aligned as to feed such strips to portions of the forming rolls g, and to the successive rolls thereafter, designed to foim drive cleats, S-cleats, or other desired forms.

The combined slitter and conveyor apparatus of the present invention is secured hingedly to the roll former machine a. Through the frame plates d, formed along a lateral axis of hinging p which is spaced substantially above the spindle axis e, are hinging bores 10 through which pass a lateral hinge bolt 11. Aligned frame plate 12 and a stub plate 13 have similar hinging bores 14 through which the hinge bolt 11 passes; they are held spaced apart by a lateral tubular spacer l fitted over the bolt 11. To permit forming by the portions of the rolls g remote from the driven gear h, the stub plate 13 is shallow and extends only a short distance forwardly of the machine side plate d; there it has a supplemental frame plate 17 welded to its outer side, to extend downwardly and forward parallel to the plate 12 as seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and S.

The frame plates 12, 17 extend forwardly of the axis p and down to a pair of forward aligned bores 19; through it passes a tie bolt 20, bearing a spacer bushing 21 which holds their forward ends apart. Spacedly between the hinging bores and the forward bores 19, at a level near or slightly below that of the tie bolt 20, the frame plates 12, 17 have bearing bores 23 in which are mounted a drive shaft 24 having a longitudinal keyway 25. At the end of shaft 24 immediately inboard of the plate 12 is secured a driving gear 26, in constant mesh with a spur gear 27 mounted to the plate 12 by a stub shaft 20, so located as to engage or disengage the roll machines driven gear h when lowered or raised. The raised, disengaged position is shown in FIG. 4. Conventional bearings, not illustrated, are utilized to minimize wear and friction.

A pair of parallel rigid arms 30, 31, which are spaced laterally parallel to each other as seen in FIGS. 1 and 5, extend forward to serve as a structural bridge from the machine side plates d to a slitter mechanism, supported forwardly of the feed table j as hereafter described. The arm 31, shown in FIG. 1 nearer to top of the drawing, extends forward to a rectangular plate portion, hereafter described, which is a principal frame member of that mechanism. At their aft end (that is, nearer the rolls g) each arm has two slide bores 32, 33, of such diameters as to fit slidingly over the drive shaft 24 and the spacer bushing 21, respectively, and formed at a corresponding spacing. By these slide bores 32, 33, the drive shaft 24 and the spacer'bushing 21 mount the arms 30, 31 and they provide for lateral sliding, so that the mechanism can be set in one of a plurality of predetermined lateral positions suitable for feeding strip metal to different portions of the inlet rolls In the embodiment shown there are only two such preset positions, that shown in full lines in FIG. 1 and that shown in phantom lines. The first of these positions, adjacent to the supplemental plate 17, is

established by adjusting a first set screw 35, which extends through the supplemental plate 17 and against which the arm 30 may abut. The second position is similarly established by a second set screw 36 through the opposite plate 12, against which the other arm 31 abuts when the mechanism is positioned as shown in phantom lines in FIG. 1. In either position the conveyor belt, to be described, is located over one of the guide channels m, n on the feed table surface k. The mechanism is supported, and is latched laterally in one of these positions, by engagement of one edge of such channel (channel m as seen in the plan view FIG. 1) by a groove 37 in the horizontal lower end 38 of a slanting scrap deflector guide bar 39. Through slotted holes 41, screws 40 secure the bar 39 to the outer surface of the arm 30 at such angle as to lift the scrap, which remains after cutting a strip of sheet metal from a broader piece, diagonally upward away from the roll former machine a. I

Mounted slidably on the drive shaft 24 between the arms 30, 31, is a driving cog or sprocket 42 having a key 43 which engages it to the drive shaft 24. A cog belt 44, preferably of the type having lateral cog projections on both surfaces, serves as a flexible drive and conveyor member, as described. It is looped over the driving cog 42 and its drive shaft 24, as seen in FIG. 3, and extends forwardly to be looped over a driven cog 45 secured on the outer end of a driven cog shaft 46.

The driven cog shaft 46 is supported laterally parallel to the drive shaft 24 by structure at the forward ends of the arms 30, 31. Bolts 48 through lateral bores in the forward end of the arm 30 extend laterally through first tubular spacers 49, through the arm 31, through second tubular spacers 50, and through a rectangular backplate 51 best seen in FIG. 3, which extends downward to more than twice the depth of the arm 30. The arm 31 has at and forward of this point an integral end extension plate-like portion 52 as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, which extends downward parallel to the rectangular plate 51. These, together with the spacers described and similar spacers bolted to their forward and lower ends, establish a gear box framework. They carry conventional low friction bearings, not shown, for mounting the driven cog shaft 46 and a parallel lower shaft 54 beneath it, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 3. Spur gears 55, 56, secured to the shafts 46, 54 respectively immediately inward of the rectangular plate 51, couple the shafts together for rotation in opposite directions. Both the shafts 46, 54 project outward of the plate-like end 52 of the arm 31 beyond the cog 45 which drives the shaft 46.

On the outer end of the driven cog shaft 46 is secured an upper slitter roll 60, whose outer edge 61 is its shearing edge. A mating lower slitter roll 62 on the end of the lower shaft 54 has an inner shearing edge 63 which mates with the upper roll edge 61 with peripheral overlap, as is conventional. The lower slitter roll 62 is spaced outwardly of the plate-like portion 52 by a tubular spacer 64 inwardly of the roll 62 on the lower shaft 54. Conventional end bolt and washer provisions 65 complete the securement of the slitter rolls 60, 62 to the ends of the shafts 46, 54.

Shallow spacer blocks 67, whose width corresponds to the spacing between the arms 3t), 31, are supported between them near their lower edges by bolts 68. As

best seen in FIG. 3, screws 69 extending downward through the spacer blocks 67 support an elongated flat bar magnet 70 between the arms 30, 31 at such a level its undersurface is immediately above the return run of the cog belt 44. The length of the bar magnet 70 is nearly equal to the conveyor length between the driving cog 42 and the driven cog 45.

The inlet rolls g are driven in opposite senses so as to propel a workpiece into the machine along a roll midplane g, as seen in FIG. 2. The upper surfaces of the guide channels m, n on the feed table j are slightly below this plane. The lower surface of the lower run of the cog belt 44 is approximately in this plane, as is the peripheral overlap of the slitter rolls 60, 62. The sense of rotation of the drive shaft 24 and the driven cog shaft 46 is such that the undersurface of the cog belt 44 will travel toward the inlet end of the machine a.

For Supporting sheet metal fed to the slitter rolls 60, 62, a simple worktable provision is carried on the rectangular plate 51 and plate-like end portion 52. Best seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, a feed plate 72 supported by an angle bracket 73 extends forwardly from the rectangular plates 51, 52. An aft feed plate extension 74 projects aft and outward of the slitter rolls 60, 62, which are accommodated within a slot 76; the extension 74 terminates in an up-tilted edge 75. Forwardly of the rolls 60, 62 the feed plate 72 has a gauge bar 78, laterally adjustable in lateral slots 79 and secured by hand-turned screws 80. This adjustment is used to vary the width of the workpiece to be slit, as measured from the overlap of the slitter rolls 60, 62.

In operation, a spacing is to be maintained between the lower run of the cog belt 44 and the upper surface of a guide channel m, n, to permit passage of the slit sheet metal workpieces. The scrap deflector guide bar 39 may furnish support at the desired spacing, or other simple support and spacing means may be employed.

Suspended from a bolt 88 at some convenient location, such as the outer side of the rectangular plate 51, is a swinging leg 89 having a forked lower end 90. This is engaged upon the edge of the feed table j when the slitter end of the apparatus is lifted hingedly about the lateral axis p, into the position shown in phantom lines in FIG. 2. Such lifting disengages the spur gear 27 from engagement with the driven gear h of the machine a, as seen in FIG. 4, and also withdraws the cog belt 44 upward and away from the feed channels m, n so that preslit sheet metal strips may be fed through these channels as readily as if the present apparatus were not attached.

The other structural means described, including the arms 30, 31, the bushing 21 and drive shaft 24 on which they slide, and the plates l2, 13, 17 which provide hinging about the axis p, serve to position the slitter rolls 60, 62 spacedly forward beyond the feed table j, so that slitting will take place in the feed plane g. When sheet metal to be slit is fed along the feed plate 72 in abutment with the vertical surface of the gauge bar 78, a width equal to its spacing from the overlap of the slitter rolls 60, 62 will be sheared; and the portion outboard of the shearing line will be deflected upward by the scrap deflector bar 39. The strip so slit will pass into a feed channel m, n and will be engaged by the lower run of the cog belt 44. This would itself drive a workpiece to the inlet rolls g, if the spacing above the channel m, n

were carefully controlled and if the channel surface were coated with a conventional friction-minimizing coating.

In the preferred embodiment, however, for use with ferrous sheet metal workpieces, the magnet bar permits a much more generous spacing and accommodates a variety of material thicknesses without any friction. As soon as a portion of a slit workpiece enters beneath the forward end of the magnet bar 70, its magnetic force draws the workpiece upward against the undersurface of the belt, which conveys the workpiece to the inlet end of the machine a without any friction against, or even contact with, the guide channel surface.

Up to the present, the principal use of the invention has been to cut scrap sheet metal pieces into short strips, such as are used for drive cleats and S-cleats which secure adjacent duct sections. Such cleats are relatively short; if the sheet metal from which they are slit has been precut to the desired length, each slit strip will have passed through the slitter rolls 60, 62 and be free of them before reaching the inlet roll g ofthe machine a. In this case, no difficulty could result from excess of peripheral speed of the rolls 3 as compared to the slitter rolls 60, 62.

Using the present invention to form longer strips of metal likewise results in no difficulty. This favorable result is contrary to what was expected from the teachings of U. S. Pat. No. 3,312,095, which requires an overrunning clutch to permit such excess peripheral speed of the machine rolls g. Using the present invention, the entire operation takes place in the plane g; and any excess speed of the machine rolls g tends to draw the metal straight and taut through the slitter rolls 60, 62, without curvature or any change of direction as with such patented apparatus would change the slope or curvature at which the material passes the slitter rolls.

By the structure and mechanism described, the present combined slitter and overlaying conveyor apparatus provides exact slitting, to a plurality of chosen widths, and feed into laterally selectable portions of the inlet rolls g. Further, by hinged movement about the lateral axis p, the apparatus is readily engaged to the gear train of the machine a, and disengaged from it when the operator decides to utilize pre-slit strips.

Variations of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, by simple locating means other than the set screws 35, 36, such apparatus may be locatable, by lateral shifting, in three or more positions aligned with suitable portions of the forming rolls.

I claim:

1. For use with a machine adapted to form sheet metal workpieces of a predetermined narrow width and having an inlet end, a driven gear on a lateral axis adjacent thereto, and a guide path defining provision in advance of said inlet end,

a combined slitter and overlaying conveyor apparatus, comprising geared drive means engageable with such driven gear of the machine,

slitter means including a pair of slitter rolls mounted on geared shafts for rotation in opposite senses and with peripheral overlap, whereby the roll movement at such overlap is toward the inlet end of such machine,

structural means to position the drive means in engagement with such driven gear of the machine and to position said slitter means spacedly forwardly thereof, whereby the slitter means is substantially in a plane with such guide path defining provision, means, coupled to the drive means, to drive the slitter rolis, whereby to slit such a workpiece and commence moving it along such guide path defining provision; and conveyor means, overlaying the path of such guide path defining provision, to engage such slit workpiece and feed it into the inlet end of such machine. 2. A combined slitter and overlaying conveyor apl5 paratus as defined in claim 1, in which the said means to drive the slitter rolls includes a flexible drive member looped about lateral shafts adjacent to the ends of the structural means and so driven by the geared drive means that its under portion travels toward the inlet end of such machine, and the said under portion comprises part of said conveyor means overlaying the workpiece guide means. 3. For forming ferrous sheet metal workpieces, a combined slitter and overlaying conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 1, in which the means to drive the slitter rolls includes a rubberlike belt, and

the conveyor means includes said belt and further includes magnetic means thereabove,

whereby said magnetic means will draw such ferrous workpiece upward against the undersurface of the belt and thereby propel such workpiece to the inlet end of such sheet metal forming machine.

4. A combined slitter and overlaying conveyor aplO paratus as defined in claim 1, in which the geared drive means includes a rotatable shaft having a lateral axis and a rotatable member keyed to and axially slidable along said shaft, and

the structural means includes arm means having one end mounted for lateral sliding along said shaft with said keyed member, together with stop means to establish a plurality of lateral positions for said arm means.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said structural means includes means to mount the slitter and conveyor apparatus hin'gedly along a lateral axis spaced above the axis of its geared drive means,

whereby the conveyor means may be moved upwardly from such guide path defining provision and the geared drive means withdrawn from engagement with the driven gear of such machine. 

1. For use with a machine adapted to form sheet metal workpieces of a predetermined narrow width and having an inlet end, a driven gear on a lateral axis adjacent thereto, and a guide path defining provision in advance of said inlet end, a combined slitter and overlaying conveyor apparatus, comprising geared drive means engageable with such driven gear of the machine, slitter means including a pair of slitter rolls mounted on geared shafts for rotation in opposite senses and with peripheral overlap, whereby the roll movement at such overlap is toward the inlet end of such machine, structural means to position the drive means in engagement with such driven gear of the machine and to position said slitter means spacedly forwardly thereof, whereby the slitter means is substantially in a plane with such guide path defining provision, means, coupled to the drive means, to drive the slitter rolls, whereby to slit such a workpiece and commence moving it along such guide path defining provision; and conveyor means, overlaying the path of such guide path defining provision, to engage such slit workpiece and feed it into the inlet end of such machine.
 2. A combined slitter and overlaying conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 1, in which the said means to drive the slitter rolls includes a flexible drive member looped about lateral shafts adjacent to the ends of the structural means and so driven by the geared drive means that its under portion travels toward the inlet end of such machine, and the said under portion comprises part of said conveyor means overlaying the workpiece guide means.
 3. For forming ferrous sheet metal workpieces, a combined slitter and overlaying conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 1, in which the means to drive the slitter rolls includes a rubber-like belt, and the conveyor means includes said belt and further includes magnetic means thereabove, whereby said magnetic means will draw such ferrous workpiece upward against the undersurface of the belt and thereby propel such workpiece to the inlet end of such sheet metal forming machine.
 4. A combined slitter and overlaying conveyor apparatus as defined in claim 1, in which the geared drive means includes a rotatable shaft having a lateral axis and a rotatable member keyed to and axially slidable along said shaft, and the structural means includes arm means having one end mounted for lateral sliding along said shaft with said keyed member, together with stop means to establish a plurality of lateral positions for said arm means.
 5. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said structural means includes means to mount the slitter and conveyor apparatus hingedly along a lateral axis spaced above the axis of its geared drive means, whereby the conveyor means may be moved upwardly from such guide path defining provision and the geared drive means withdrawn from engagement with the driven gear of such machine. 